Dickson C. Igwe. Photo: VINO/File

It appears that in a season of politics, this matter is taking a back seat. A couple of politicians have expressed a degree of lamentation, and that is it. This is a complete lack of vision. Politicians should be adopting aggressive solutions to this evil, instead of postulating endlessly on infrastructure and the cost of living. The deaths of native sons to criminal violence is the most critical matter on the political balance sheet.

OK. Coupled with this gangster culture, where Virgin Islands male youth especially romanticise being a gangster, is a culture of silence, where there are tales of parents who refuse to expose the evil deeds of their own offspring. There are rumours of parents who discover weapons and drugs in their child’s bedroom and refuse to inform the police. Again, this is understandable to an extent. No father wants his son to go to prison for a very long stretch. That is his child’s future ruined.

Then there is the allegation that there is a lack of confidentiality with various institutions in a tiny village community. This is a lack of discretion that must be fixed immediately in the interests of public safety. A report to the police of an incident, even involving one’s loved ones, and the next thing is the tale is on the streets, and the parent or relative who reported the crime is viewed as a SNITCH or worse. The investigation into the matter is untenable – null and void - as this lack of confidentiality opens up too many escape hatches for the criminals. So, who is to blame for the culture of silence?

And this reluctance to offer information is not specific to native Virgin Islanders and Belongers. The Virgin Islands is made up of various races and ethnicities, all tend to adopt a tight community ring that can be impenetrable, but for those elements deemed useful to their cause. All groups adopt silence as a way to keep their ‘’so called interests’’ at the forefront: the wolf pack analogy.

Then there are those who are direct beneficiaries of this criminal culture: local arms dealers and drug barons. This is where the majority of deaths of our youth from gun crime emanate.

There are asymmetrical factors: a culture of entitlement, single-parent homes, angry young men, a hatred for legitimate authority, a matriarchal culture, overprotective moms, migration placing too many Virgin Islands youth out of skilled and manual work, and so on and so forth.

Are there solutions to this evil? As this writer frequently asserts, who are we building for if we deposit our future in either the prison or cemetery? Who will inherit your palace on the hill when your son is in a grave?